


3 months Till the End of Everything

by Gentleclemence



Category: The West Wing
Genre: College, F/F, Falling In Love, Female Josh Lyman, Female Sam Seaborn, Gen, Genderswap, One sided love?, Pre-White House (West Wing), Whoops they're both girls now sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-19 02:22:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29619138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gentleclemence/pseuds/Gentleclemence
Summary: Ok so I can't explain it, but a Verizon flip phone inspired this. This is Sam and Josh right before law school.
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Sam Seaborn
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	3 months Till the End of Everything

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so yeah idk where the hell this came from, but it's inspired by Me rewatching the West Wing, finding an old Verizon flip phone in my bucket o' old gadgets, and the song ночь by кино. Also Sam and Josh are girls, sorry not sorry ://
> 
> Welcome to the Over-usage of dashes and my lack of knowledge as to how law school works

She's changing her sheets when her cellphone buzzes off. Since she'd been alternating between staring at the phone lying on her bedside table and the unopened letter on her desk, when the phone did in fact ring she almost dropped it, her fingers fumbling with the keypad to hit Yes.

"Did you get in?" Sam's voice is taut in the best possible way over the line, excitement seeming to be physically tearing her apart.  
"I don't know yet, 'was just waiting for you to call."  
"Why didn't you look already?"  
"Jus' wanted to wait for you, I guess."

"Ready to look?" Sam's voice was now almost inaudible, her tone hushed and strung out. Josie took a breath.  
"Yeah."  
"Ok, on three then. One... Two..."  
"Three!"

Josie tore open the letter, almost letting the phone fall off it's perch on her shoulder as she feverishly scanned the cream paper. She did end up dropping her phone as her shoulders dropped along with her mouth.  
"Sam? Sam I-" she paused to make sure she didn't end up screaming. "Well?"  
There was silence on the other end.  
"No."  
Josie didn't know what to say. How could Sam not have gotten in? Samantha Seaborn, the best student that Harvard had seen in god-knows how long, didn't get accepted into their own fucking law school? She was at a loss.  
"I- I'm so sorry, Sam, god I- I just don't know what to sa-"  
"It's fine. It's fine just, just don't say it." Sam's voice had gone flat and rigid. Josie could see the furrowed brow, the tight press of Sam's lips in that moment and she thought she felt something break. She wasn't sure if it was her or Sam.  
"Well... I gotta uhh, I gotta finish something but, well don't hesitate to call, Sam. If you need anything." She didn't know what to say, didn't know how to make Sam feel better. She only knew how to back out.  
"Yeah. Yeah no, of course. I'll call you back."  
"Wait, Sam-"  
And the line clicked. Josie fell back on the bed, the letter still crinkled in her hand from where she'd gripped it too hard and her phone in the other. She felt like putting her hand through the window.

It was only later that night that Josie got an idea. It wasn't a very good one, she didn't even know how Sam felt towards her anymore, but fuck it if she wouldn't try. She typed out a quick text, and hit send before her mind could fully catch up to what she was planning to do and talk her out of it.

"Hey wanna live w me this summer?"

She lied in bed then, fully awake like she was most nights, but now she was impatient. Half-hoping, half-praying, just waiting for her phone to buzz back.  
The table buzzed.

"Yes"

Josie grinned.

\----------------------------------------

It flashed back to Josie at one point, a moment within the weeks leading up to Sam's arrival.  
It was one of their late night talks, where Josie would stay up because she couldn't do anything else and Sam would stay up because of Josie, and they'd talk while Josie smoked and Sam would chide her for it. She couldn't remember how they'd gotten to the topic, maybe it was a comment about Josie's mother, but they'd arrived back at The Topic. The air was starting to be suffocating as summer came closer and closer.  
"So... Where do you think you'll go now that Harvard is out? Those ungrateful bastards..."  
"Oh shut up, it's bad luck to call the guys at your future college bastards." Sam's voice was surprisingly light, and not in a forced way. A fraction of the suffocation had eased, even as the night air thickened.

"But where do you think you'll go? Oh hey! Maybe you should go to Yale, they'll love you. It'll be right near where my parents live so if I time my breaks right, I can even go and see y-"  
"I'm thinking about Duke, actually."  
Josie had a feeling of deja vu as she felt her chest constrict again.  
"Duke? Why the hell would you go to Duke? Do you really wanna chant "Go Blue Devils!" For the next four fuckin' years of your life?"  
"Hey!" Sam was trying to keep in a snort of laughter now, and Josie had a flashing thought of wishing she could hear that laugh fully. "Don't insult the Blue Devils, they're a revered team!"  
"God, I mean lookin' at 'em you'd think hell had frozen over, Sam."  
"Well I know they want me, they've sent me letters asking me to join them, if I apply now I can still get in before the deadline..."  
"Oh yeah, I remember the letters Sam. By the way they write about you, you'd think you were Apollo and they your followers." Sam did let out a snort at Josie's words. "And now that I think about it, you'd've never survived Yale anyways. You and your fragile California girl skin, you'd freeze up in a block of ice as soon as you'd step through the door and your perpetual tan would shrink back into your skin in fright."  
"Hey! I have in fact lived in the northeast, J."  
Josie let out a sarcastic little noise of dispute at that. "I have, J! You've literally lived with me through most of it. And you say I'll freeze, what the hell am I gonna do living at your place? If Connecticut is as miserable as you say it is..."  
"Oh don't worry about that, I'll obviously just deck you out in my extensive Northface collection! You'll blend right in Sam, no one'll be able to pick out your tired, pale face from anyone else's."  
They'd continued talking after that, of course, but Josie remembered how she couldn't get the thought of Sam in her clothes out of her head for the next week.

Then just like that the weeks closed up until Sam arrived. And so that was all they had left. Three months until the end. And there was Sam, one night in early March, Sam, standing on her porch in the middle of the night, drenched in rain with her eyes shining brighter than the street lamps, the silhouette of Sam holding her bags as she dripped on Josie's doorway. Sam. And she knew she shouldn't, knew she couldn't, but seeing Sam's soaked face and brilliant smile, Josie felt like falling in love.

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a funky little one-shot spawned out of the deep recesses of my brain but any comments or critiques are appreciated!! should i add another chapter??


End file.
